Phil Buch, choir director at Wausau West High School, said administrators directed him to suspend practices of the Master Singers.

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The Wausau West High School choir director at the center of a political storm over religious-music rules said he had been directed to suspend practices for the popular Master Singers group, a contradiction of earlier reports that he made the decision himself.

That group, which later was allowed to resume practices, also will perform the same group of songs that had been flagged as being too religious for a public school-sanctioned concert, said Phil Buch, director of West's Master Singers. Buch revealed both details Thursday during an interview with Daily Herald Media, three weeks after ...